We have been joining bazaars and most of the time, the projected gain was not achieved. This prompted me to think on learning how to set up a bazaar and really experience how to promote and sell it to the people. It was December 9 when I decided to push through and set the bazaar date last December 15, 2013, which is 6 days from the day I decided to make my own bazaar. With much pressure, i had to plan every move.

First: Since this is an experiment on my part, I had to play safe and sell my own products. I did not call other entrepreneurs because I was not sure on the outcome of the project.

Second: I had to look for a good venue and I was thankful that my good friend Sheila supported my idea and let me use a small portion of the parking area in front of Granary Inn and Restaurant for one day.

Third: After the venue was finalized, it was time to prepare the items for the sale. It was already Thursday and the Sale day was Sunday, 4 days left. While preparing the products for the sale, I started to promote and advertise online.

Fourth: I designed a simple flyer using powerpoint, saved it as Jpeg and promoted it (sale) in my facebook account and in some groups after asking permission from the administrators.

Fifth: I took pictures of some of the products and decided to conduct a pre-sell online. I uploaded the photos and below each one of them were details about the product and the price. It was vital that each product on the pre-sell were sold at very big discounts. This served as my catch-on sale. I kept my FB account busy promoting the sale and the pre-sell products. I also sent messages to my friends and family members to support my first organized bazaar. I also made sure that I was not spamming all over Facebook that is why I made a list of my social media network “friends” whom I think will come and buy/support the bazaar sale. I sent them a personal message. I had around 20 people in my list and most of them came and bought something.

Sixth: The tarpulines were also useful because it attracted passers-by. In fact, one good bulk purchase came because she saw the tarpuline outside the gate.

On the night before the Sale day, I was really nervous because I concentrated much on my market list and social media network. There were also a lot of things to consider like transportation, manpower, paper bags, food and alike. I felt the pressure but I kept thinking of a positive outcome. I kept saying to myself that “everything is going to be good”.

After two hours of sleep, it was time to bring the products to the bazaar venue. We had talked to a jeepney driver earlier during the night and when he came early in the morning, the transporting work began. By 7:00 am we were setting up the tables and separating the items. But much to our delight, there were already people who were going around our boxes looking for products or items that might interest them. They saw the tarpuline. At that time, there were only two of us, me and my cousin who were preparing all the items to be sold and we immediately felt the “good vibes”.

Friends came, relatives visited, pre-sell clients picked up their online orders, walk-in customers bought items. It was all good. At the end of the day, we made a good one day profit.

I still have a lot to learn in this “bazaar industry” but at least now I am aware on how things work and how large my social network is.